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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000000.txt from 2003/10

From: Barbara Trautwein <mzeztee@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Artley oboe with single reed mouthpiece
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 11:44:02 -0400

Lee,

A school where I used to teach had a couple of those mouthpieces. We are
talking ***fifty*** years ago. I think we used them in emergencies when a
kid had not paced himself in keeping supplied with reeds.

I remember trying one and the sound was very pure which in those days was
not very oboe-like. My first oboe teacher, Bill Poland, used to talk
about the "core" sound within the basic oboe sound popular in that day.
The oboe mouthpiece was similiar to the core sound but lacked the richness
that surrounded the core of reed generated sound.

To my old ears, much of today's terrific playing that is happening all
over has a very pure sound and IS different than what we heard from Tabuteau
and his first generation students.

No, I am not recommending reviving the oboe mouthpiece. I just don't
think that current players would be terribly offended by its sound.

It did lack dynamic flexibility. . . .

My 2 cents. . .

B

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003, Lee Lowry wrote:

> I've not seen an "Artley" oboe, but I did see an oboe with the single
> reed clarinet type mouthpiece once, about 45 years ago. At the time it
> was explained to me that the single reed (which looked exactly like a
> very small and narrow clarinet reed) was developed as a way to help
> players of single reed instruments transition to playing the difficult
> double reed used on the oboe. My band director told me this and thought
> this single-reed solution created more problems than just taking the
> plunge and starting a single-reed player out on a legitimate oboe reed.
> I never heard what the thing sounded like--I have since heard that it
> didn't sound much like an oboe, and it seems to be an idea that
> fortunately never caught on. The instrument belonged to the school
> system of a very small town about 80 miles west of my home town, and I'm
> not sure how or why it ended up in my junior high. I think it may have
> been sent to my town for repair as there was a music store there who did
> poor quality repair work on oboes, but no music store in the tiny town
> where the oboe came from. Perhaps the store sent it over to my band
> director to be tested.
>
> Fast-forward many years to the Internet and eBay. Twice I have seen the
> tiny mouthpieces, and once, some of the old reeds, offered for auction.
> There were two surprises here--one, the mouthpiece and single reed in
> one of the auctions clearly had been developed in France, not the US as
> I had always thought. It surprised me to think that anyone in France
> would do such a thing to what is practically their national instrument.
> I think that auction even originated from France, and included several
> of the reeds, but I no longer remember for sure. The other surprise was
> that both auctions for this bizarre item brought surprising bidder
> interest and ended up going for far more than I would ever have offered,
> even to have a strange bit of history. I don't remember the final
> prices, but I was surprised at how many people wanted to have one of
> these things.
>
> Lee Lowry
>
> >Message: 3
> >Subject: RE: [DR-L] old oboe
> >Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:25:03 -0500
> >From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
> >To: <doublereed-l@-----.edu>
> >Reply-To: doublereed-l@-----.edu
> >
> >>From Miriam Williams:
> >
> ><<<At band rehearsal last night, one of the members showed me an old
> >oboe with maybe 6 or 7 keys; no bridge work at all. Brand was Artley. He
> >was wondering how to get an idea of how old it might be and perhaps an
> >appraisal. I hadn't a clue! It even had a tiny mouthpiece that looked
> >like a shrunken clarinet mouthpiece that one could put a single reed
> >on.>>>
> >
> >Did you get any replies on this one? I don't think I have seen them.
> >Possibly no one wanted to give your colleague the bad news. The Artley
> >oboe is of most value to someone looking for an instrument from which to
> >make a lamp. With the addition of the Runyon single-reed mouthpiece, I
> >would place its value at around $5.00, just for the curiosity value of
> >the mouthpiece. As to the age of the instrument, I think the answer is,
> >it doesn't matter! Sorry!
> >
> >Ed Lacy
> >University of Evansville
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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